Since
2002, 36 archaeological artefacts that could have been lost, stolen or consigned
to the store-rooms of the National Museum in Dublin have been kept and displayed
in their county of origin. In February 2002, Clare Museum became one of eleven
designated museums in the country. Its designated status means that the museum
has statutory powers under the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997 making
it legally entitled to retain objects on behalf of the State. In the past
archaeological objects found in Clare were sent to the National Museum, and
unless they were of national importance were consigned a number and stored
away in obscurity. All that has changed however and now objects found in Clare
stay in the county. Through Clare Museum’s inhouse temporary exhibitions
and its website the people of Clare can see and learn more about their archaeological
heritage as it comes to light.

All archaeological
objects found, with no known owner, belong to the State. The finder of an
archaeological object must report the find to the National Museum of Ireland
or to Clare Museum. It is advised that the finder should leave the object
where it was found unless it appears to be in danger of destruction or theft.
Designated museums also provide advice or information on any aspect of our
archaeological heritage, particularly in relation to archaeological objects.
Curators of Designated Museums are empowered to act on behalf of the Director
of the National Museum of Ireland to ensure that objects discovered are investigated,
reported and preserved as State property. Clare Museum reports all archaeological
finds to the National Museum, provides conservation where necessary, and contributes
to and actively pursues research regarding all archaeological finds acquired.
All objects remain State property and are registered with Clare Museum.

The archaeological
artefacts claimed for the State by the museum range in date from the Neolithic
to the Medieval period. The circumstances in which the objects were found
shows that the material culture of the past is often closer then we think.
Something most of the findspots have in common is their association with agricultural
or construction work. Naturally, when the earth is disturbed artefacts hidden
beneath the soil for centuries or millennia often come to the surface. Other
finds are less easy to explain, some process occurs that brings the past to
the surface and all it takes is a canny eye to spot what most of us could
easily miss.

Whether
well visited sites or more obscure monuments, a walk around ancient or historical
ruins can often result in chance finds. The Delaney Collection is a group
of 26 artefacts ranging in date from the Neolithic to the Early Christian
period. Claimed for the state by the museum in 2003, the artefacts were found
in the townland of Doolin, parish of Killilagh, barony of Corcomroe, by archaeologist
Shane Delaney while walking in the area during the summer of 2000. All the
artefacts were found on the surface of disturbed ground caused by the removal
of field walls and the subsequent mounding of the wall rubble. The area where
the artefacts were found is marked as an archaeological complex (SMR CL008-057).
This complex encompasses a number of enclosures, a cashel and possible ancient
field systems. The topsoil depth is very shallow and protruding limestone
bedrock is a major feature of the topography. The depth of disturbed soil
was no more than a couple of centimetres in general.

A ground
stone axe, a polished green stone axe, 4 patinated tertiary flint flakes and
a secondary struck chert flake were located in the corner of a field concentrated
in an area of approximately 5m x 5m. In the scar of one of the removed field
walls a hammerstone, an elongated regular pebble or possible ard share and
a hone stone were found, while another hammerstone was found on a field path.

Neolithic settlement and activity in the Doolin area is already well known
from the axe production site at Fisherstreet and the court-tomb at Teergonean.
The stone axes and flint and chert artefacts probably date to this period
also (4000 to c. 2000 BC). Stone axes are one of the most common archaeological
finds in Ireland and their use extended from the Mesolithic into the Neolithic
and Early Bronze Age. Stone axes are however considered a characteristic artefact
of the Neolithic period, a time when they took on a new importance as tools
for clearing forests to make land available for pasture and cultivation. Despite,
or perhaps because, of their important functional role stone axes appear to
have held a symbolic significance for Neolithic people. They have been found
as grave goods with burials or in hoards, such as the c. 900 examples found
in the River Shannon near an important fording point at Killaloe. The highly
polished green stone axe, the only green stone axe ever found in the county,
was more than likely of ceremonial or symbolic rather than utilitarian significance
to those who possessed it. This axe along with five others acquired by the
museum been sent to the Irish Stone Axe Project in the School of Archaeology,
UCD, Dublin.

The Irish
Stone Axe Project (ISAP) was set up in 1990 and arose out of the realisation
of the potential of stone axe studies in understanding many different aspects
of earlier Irish prehistory, including human knowledge and exploitation of
the geological environment. The basic aim of the the project is to establish
a database of Irish stone axes incorporating contextual, morphological and
petrological information on all known stone axes. One of the most important
aspects of stone axe studies is the identification of the different rock types
that were utilised in their manufacture, and the locating of potential sources
for them (ISAP website). The stone axes will be returned to Clare Museum in
late 2007 or early 2008 along with details of the ISAP’s findings. This
information will be passed on to the public via the museum website or through
temporary exhibition.

In the
same field approximately 10 metres east of a cashel (CL008-050702) a tertiary
flint scraper, broken bone/antler comb and ceramic fragment were found. Both
antler and bone provided an easily worked and readily available raw material
for the manufacture of various household items throughout history and prehistory.
Antler however was preferred for the manufacture of combs as it is tougher
and more pliable. The comb found at Doolin was composed of a number of separate
plates held together with iron rivets and decorated with simple dot-and-circle
motifs, a popular form of decoration in Ireland throughout the early medieval
period, c. 500 AD to c. 1100 AD (Edwards, 2000). Cashels are stone built circular
enclosures which would have contained a stone or wooden house in its interior.
As these monuments are generally considered to date from the early medieval
period, it is possible that the bone/antler comb is associated with settlement
or craft activities at the cashel.

In February
1999, while visiting the medieval church site at Kilmacreehy, local historican
Sean Spellissy found what he thought to be a quern stone near the shoreline.
When Jim Higgins, Galway City Heritage Officer, visisted the site he confirmed
the find as a saddle or saddle back quern stone. Saddle querns were used during
the Neolithic and Bronze Ages in Ireland and consist of a usually rectangular
shaped stone with a concave upper surface on which grain was ground using
a rubbing stone. The discovery of a saddle quern usually points to prehistoric
occupation nearby, as these heavy and cumbersome objects were not easily transported.
Saddle querns are common finds on Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements and
several examples from Clare are on display at Clare Museum.

In 2004
a visitor to the scenic ruins of Corcomroe Abbey discovered a small bell on
the ground surface in a field directly north of the abbey. This field was
originally part of the monastic enclosure which is located in the townland
of Abbey West, parish of Abbey, barony of Corcomroe. Composed of bronze or
brass plated iron the bell measures c. 40mm high and has a maximum width of
27mm. An oval shaped handle contains a similarly shaped perforation for suspension.
The Cistercian abbey at Corcomroe was founded in 1194 by either Donal Mor
O’Brien, king of Limerick, or his son, Donough Cairbreach. The abbey
was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and was known in Latin as ‘Sancta Maria
de Petra Fertili’, or St. Mary of the Fertile Rock. In the past bells
were hung on domestic animals to keep track of their movements. The proximity
of the find to Corcomroe Abbey may be significant in that the Cistercian Order
are known for their agricultural labours. As each Cistercian community was
designed to be self-sufficient it is likely that the monks at Corcomroe used
the surrounding lands to keep animals like sheep, goat and cattle to provide
the community with food and clothing. The harness bell may also have been
hung from a horse harness, a common practice in the past.

While
the finds described above were all found during leisure activities, those
remaining to be described are all associated with hard work. In 2003 while
digging a drain on heavy soil in Knockroe townland, parish of Clooney, barony
of Corcomroe, a farmer was quick to spot a saddle quern accompanied by a rubbing
stone within the excavated area. The saddle quern, 62cm long and 31cm wide,
is sub-rectangular in shape, the surface flat with a pronounced dip occuring
c. 10cm from one long end producing a concave surface which continues to the
other end. The rubbing stone found at Knockroe is a large heavy sea stone,
c. 40.5 cm long, c. 17cm wide and c. 15.2 cm in depth. The Knockroe find was
unusual in that both the saddle and the rubbing stone were found.

After
reporting the finds to the curator at Clare Museum an inspection was made
of the find and the find spot. Although there were little of significance
to be discerned from the now completed area of the drain, PJ alerted the curator
and myself to the presence of an unusual stone about a quarter of a kilometre
away in another field. Here he presented to us a previously unrecorded bullaun
stone, with two artificial basins on its surface. The bullaun stone which
is diamond or lozenge shaped had been set vertically into the ground close
to the field boundary. Bullaun stones like saddle querns are often considered
to have been used for grinding, and they are often found in close proximity
to settlement sites such as ringforts. However, bullaun stones also have a
tendancy to occur at ritual or religious sites and like the stone axes described
above probably held both a utilitarian and ritual significance to people in
the past. Many bullauns occur close to megalithic monuments, in Clare a number
are associated with wedge tombs which date to the end of the Neolithic and
Early Bronze Age. Another common location for bullauns is at early church
sites and holy wells, and an unusual bullaun set in a conglomerate boulder
is associated with the inauguration site at Magh Adhair near the village of
Quin. The presence of the bullaun and the saddle quern at Knockroe suggest
the presence of prehistoric settlement and ritual in this now isolated hillside
location.

While
undertaking field drainage on boggy land using a mechancial digger at Knockliscrane
(Knockloskeraun) townland, parish of Kilmurry-Ibrickane in the barony of Ibrickane,
a landowner brought a bronze looped and socketed axehead to the surface. Measuring
6.5cm in length and 5.2 cm wide the axehead was in poor condition, the socket
end was broken and only one partial loop remains. The axehead is currently
undergoing conservation work which will help to remove the buildup of acretions
and to stabilise the object to prevent any further degeneration of its fabric.
The first bronze axeheads in Ireland (and Europe) were flat axes mounted onto
a wooden haft. Socketed and looped axes such as this one represented a technological
advance during the late Bronze Age. Securing the haft within a socket on the
axe rather than mounting the axe onto the wooden haft provided a more secure
fix and made the tool more effective for use. Leather thongs placed through
the loops also served to hold the axehead in place.

In 1978
during land clearance on his farm at Caheraphuca townland, Inchicronan parish,
barony of Bunratty Upper, a farmer unearthed two broken stone axes and another
stone tool, possibly a pestle-like implement. The objects were acquired by
the museum in 2004. During the summer of 2007 construction work on a new housing
estate near St. Flannan’s College, in the townland of Clonroadmore,
parish of Drumcliff, and barony of Islands led to the recovery of a complete
polished stone axe. These axes are currently being analysed by the Irish Stone
Axe Project in UCD, Dublin (see above).

While
advances in archaeology have brought the past closer to us in many ways, sometimes
we are reminded of how much we still have to learn when faced with an artefact
much less readily identifiable than the stone axe. In 2005 while herding cattle
in a field in Leana townland, Killinaboy parish, barony of Inchiquin, farmer
Michael O’Grady found an oval stone in close proximity to two fuliachta
fiadh. Dating from the Bronze and Iron Ages, fulachta fiadh or ‘burnt
mounds’ are one of the most numerous field monuments in Ireland. They
are visible as low horseshoe shaped or cresentic grass-covered mounds which
beneath the surface consist of a sunken wooden or stone trough surrounded
by a mound of fire-heated and cracked stones. While it is agreed that their
primary function was for heating water their specific purpose remains uncertain.
The most popular theory regarding their use is that they were ancient cooking
places, other possibilities are that they were sites for bathing or for craft
and industrial activities such as dyeing, metalworking, tanning, or soap and
fat production (Monk 2007). Most recently it has been suggested that they
may have been used for brewing ale (Quinn and Moore, 2007).

The stone
found near the fulachta fiadh is an flat, oval-shaped sandstone disc referred
to as a bi-facial hammerstone, 9.3cm long, 7.9cm wide and 4.1 cm in depth.
A roughly circular shallow indentation occurs near the centre of each face.
The stone may be associated with activities at the fulacta fiadh. However,
similar stone objects have been found on early Neolithic and Mesolithic sites
(O’Grady, 2006). The hollows on each face may have served as a means
of gripping the stone which was possibly used to crack hazelnuts (ibid.).
Hazel is a dominant form of vegetation in the area, and the nuts are a rich
source of protein. We know that they were eaten in Neolithic times in the
Burren where their charred shells were recovered from a hearth in a late Neolithic
house on Roughan Hill (Jones, 2004).

In 2005
Clare County Council’s Field Monument Warden, Michael Lynch found a
stone spindle whorl in a trench c. 2.5 metres deep at the site of a road-widening
project close to the remains of an enclosure and castle. The find was made
in the townland of Commonage, parish of Kilfenora, barony of Corcomroe. Spindle
whorls were used for spinning yarn from as early as the Bronze Age and were
usually made of clay, bone/antler or stone. Spindle whorls are fundamentally
disc shaped objects with a central perforation, the example described here
is probably of sandstone and has a plano-convex shape. Cloth was made from
wool and linen and spindle whorls are a common find on settlement sites. Each
whorl was mounted on a wooden pin or spindle and this was used to draw the
raw wool into a thread. The early 8th century Irish law tract the ‘Cáin
Lánamna’ or ‘Law of the Couple’ suggests that women
were responsible for the combing, spinning and weaving of wool.

All the
artefacts described above were found by ordinary people during the course
of their working day or while passing time in leisure pursuits. By bringing
these objects to the attention of Clare Museum the finders were ensuring that
these remnants of the past would be identified, recorded and preserved for
posterity, and knowledge and awareness of them brought to the public at large.
Many more archaeological artefacts remain to be discovered and reported. Clare
Museum relies on the public to bring their finds to the attention of the museum
in order to prevent them from being lost or sold illegally. Archaeological
objects are not only valueable for the information they provide regarding
how objects were made and used in the past. Their geographic context also
helps us to build up a picture of settlement and human activity in our area
in the past. When objects are removed from their context much valuable information
is lost.

By being
mindful of the layers of the past upon which we trod, farm and build we can
all help to better preserve and record our archaeological heritage. Clare
Museum will continue to acquire and care for archaeological artefacts found
in the county and to make them accessible to the public through temporary
exhibitions and the museum website where all objects acquired by the museum
can be viewed under the Recent Acquisitions section.